Lavrov and Videgaray deny Russia's interference in Mexican election

On Friday, both Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray dismissed speculation over possible interference by Russia in next year's Mexico General Election as unfounded and advocated for maintaining friendship between nations.

“Mexico's Government has no evidence to validate claims about Moscow's supposed interest in influencing the results of the upcoming poll,” said Videgaray when he was questioned on the unbridled controversy in Mexican press earlier this week.

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and Mexico “are countries that respect each other and that have important bonds,” assured Videgaray, emphasizing “the great friendship among both countries.”

The allegations referred to Russia's interference in the U.S. election, in the affairs of France, Germany, in Brexit, and even in Catalonia's independence are unfounded, mere lies, and Lavrov said the sources of the misinformation were in the United States .

"Neither RT-Russia Today-, nor any other Russian media outlets have ever interfered in the domestic affairs of other countries and we have nothing to do with the Mexican presidential election," Lavrov stressed, adding that it was Mexico’s internal affair.

Regarding Mexico, Lavrov said that it was untented to damage Russian-Mexican relations , which "have been particularly steady and positive."

Videgaray thanked the humanitarian assistance provided by Russia after the devastating earthquakes that struck the country, an 8.2-magnitude quake on September 7 followed by a 7.1-magnitude quake on September 19 .

On Twitter, Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Relations (Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores abbreviated SRE) wrote in Spanish: "Mexico and Russia agree to boost their bilateral relationship. The Foreign Ministers Luis Videgaray and Sergey Lavrov, agree to boost trade and investment in coordination with business sectors."

Luis Videgaray arrived last night in Moscow for a flash visit as part of Mexico's interest in maintaining a high level of constant dialogue with G20 members .

It also aims to strengthen high-level political dialogue and follow up on the meeting held by Presidents Enrique Peña Nieto and Vladimir Putin last September, during the IX BRICS Summit .

In 2016, bilateral trade reached USD$ 1.700 million and since then on the bilateral trade has been strengthening reaching USD$ 1.600 million this year.

In fact, trade was a key issue in Lavrov's and Videgaray's meeting in which they established food export as a priority in their trade policy.

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